A Box of Oranges
by Darknesse Sidhe
Summary: AR. Why? Because there aren't enough to go around.
1. Kakashi the Fruit Vendor

**Uh, do I even have to state that I don't own Naruto?**

A Box of Oranges, Chapter 1:

This was it. The moment of truth. Naruto wasn't used to being nervous, but he couldn't help but sweat. The man standing in front of him was the last vendor on the street. If he didn't get this one stupid-ass job, he would have to go crawling to the other side of the village to mow lawns for Hyuga. And if he did, his friend Neji, whose uncle was the head of the Hyuga family, would never let it go.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto's looked at the man in front of him and broke out into another fit of cold sweat. His would-be boss stared coldly down at him, his arms crossed. "Do not act as if I don't know who you are. Your past should not account for the present, but are you not the same person who vandalized the portraits of the four principals of Konoha within the headmaster's office three years ago?"

He stared up in shock. "How … how did you know about that?"

The other acted as if surprised Naruto hadn't figure it out. "I am an acquaintance of your former middle school teacher, Iruka-kun. That, and you are legendary with your maverick ways."

Naruto lost it. He couldn't help it. "But boss!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet and in the process destroying his brief and failure attempt at staying calm. "That was years ago! I've changed, I promise! I'm responsible now! Please take me as your minion underling! I really need this job!"

The 'boss' face-palmed at the blond boy's crude choice of words. "Do not call me boss; I haven't hired you yet. I'm not finished talking, anyways. And besides, aren't there other jobs you could take?"

"No! All the other market vendors rejected me. They said they didn't need help, the old wrinkly ladies especially. And so the only other job I can take would be …." He shuddered. "Mowing lawns at Hyuga."

The fruit shop owner was confused. "I don't understand. The Hyuga family is rich, isn't it? Wouldn't it pay good?"

"You don't understand, boss. I'm friends with Hyuga Neji, a member, and if I started working for his family he'd never let me live it down! Well, he wouldn't make fun of me aloud or anything but he'd give me weird looks all the time and I'd get so uncomfortable and – "

"Um …."

" – there's Neji-kun's cousin, that weird Hinata girl! I mean she's okay and everything, but it's so hard to have a conversation with her, 'cause she keeps breaking off and blushing and everything! I honestly do not understand girls. Like Sakura! She – "

"Ah."

" – always punches me in the face for stuff that isn't even my fault. I mean that one time Konohamaru-kun _implied_ that we were a couple and I didn't even confirm it, I just told him he was a smart kid – it was a compliment for him, damn it, so I don't get why she had to punch me in the face for giving someone else a damned compliment!"

"I – "

"I didn't use to understand, but now I totally get why Shikamaru is against them. Girls, I mean. But then Shikamaru has more reason to dislike them than I do, since he has a freaking scary mother and that Temari girl is _always_ around him and always causing trouble – "

"Uzumaki Naruto. SHUT UP."

"Okay. Sorry, boss."

The fruit-selling guy sighed and rubbed his eyes – well, the one eye that was showing beneath his headband. "Iruka says that despite your somewhat disturbing past, you are enthusiastic about work that you actually like, and you can persevere. Also, he says you're able to strike up friendships with anyone who doesn't think you're a total idiot. That's good for merchandise."

Naruto paused and looked up hopefully, hardly daring to breathe ….

"And I could definitely use a hand around here, so you're hired. I guess."

"THANK YOU BOSS! I LOVE YOU!" Ecstatic, Naruto launched himself at his new boss with such enthusiasm that his hug sent the other man stumbling back a few steps.

"Welcome to Hatake fruit stores," mumbled the fruit vendor, gingerly separating himself from his new 'minion underling'. "If selling goes bad, just tell them the White Fang of Konoha used to own this store."

"Yes boss!" Excitement ran through Naruto's like an electric shock. Now he wouldn't have to work under that weird Neji guy! "When do I start?"

"Call me Kakashi. And you can start now." With that, Kakashi began to walk away. It wasn't hard. They were out on the streets standing by the small set-up shop, after all.

"Uhh … Kakashi-boss?"

Sigh. "What?"

"Do I get a cool yellow flowery apron like yours?"

Kakashi was about to turn around and scream, "NO!" when the words actually sunk in.

"Here. Take mine," he offered to his employee, overenthusiastically ripping off his apron and throwing it at him. He'd never liked it anyways. But his father, when he'd lived, had always insisted that he wear it. Apparently it promoted customers, seeing a grown man in a girly apron.

"Thank you, Kakashi-boss! I am honoured!"

"Okay." He started to walk away again.

"Uh … Kakashi-boss?"

Sigh. "What?"

"Where are you going?"

"To the book store. I have to pick up the next volume of Icha Icha Paradise which is in stores, now!" Spoken in an advertising tone.

For a moment, dead silence. Then an ear-splitting: "EWWWWWWWWWWWWW, KAKASHI-BOSS, YOU READ THAT DIRTY, INHUMAN FILTH?" Followed by: "Wait, how am I supposed to manage alone?"

Kakashi waved a hand dismissively, trying not to twitch at the thought of Icha Icha being insulted by this impudent boy. (How dare he!) "Think of it as an initiation test. Do well on this to prove your worth. I'll be back in, say, a few hours."

"But – "

"Don't worry, you'll do fine," Kakashi reassured. "Consumers really dig awkward-looking teenage boys in girly aprons."

He slipped behind an alley and was gone. Surprised, Naruto quickly ran out from behind the stall, went around it, and ducked his head into the alley … and no one was there.

He walked back behind the stall with conflicted feelings. And initiation test, eh? He tapped his chin thoughtfully … and then dropped into a deep pool of apprehension, tragedy, and dread. He had never done well in initiation tests. In middle school last year, it had taken him three attempts to pass Konoha Public School.

It probably didn't help that in the middle of it, for some reason he had tried to chew Sasuke's head in a brief bout of insanity. One of the reasons why there was bite marks on the top of the Uchiha's skull. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura, who bore witness along with Ino, had ever gotten over that. But the past was the past ….

_At least I'm not sweating myself out by mowing lawns by hand while Neji sits on a bench and drinks tea daintily and watches me with a deeply amused expression on his stuck-up face_, thought Naruto, and his day brightened up considerably.

**I'm sorry everyone, but I just had to make Kakashi a fruit store marketplace vendor. : )**

**Next chapter, we get to see Neji lament over how he was looking soooo forward to watching Naruto die mowing all 600 acres of Hyuga lawn because he's a sadist and it would be amusing, and then he finds Naruto in … in …**

**_That apron_.**

**Please be considerate and review this story! Have pity as this is my first Naruto fanfic.**


	2. Never Let Neji do Your Shopping

**I'm writing this cuz I don't own Naruto.**

A Box of Oranges, Chapter 2:

The moment Sasuke woke up, he knew something was off. He could feel it. Something was wrong. Unfamiliar with the feeling that washed over him, it took him a moment to place it. Then he knew: it was need, in the form of a vague, gnawing longing. He needed something … but what?

He got out of bed, thinking hard. As he got dressed and walked to the kitchen to have breakfast, his stomach growled, and he knew what he needed. He was hungry; he needed food. Huh, not complicated. Sasuke was walking to the kitchen to have breakfast, anyways. A quick bowl of cereal would settle him.

But to his distaste, even after Sasuke finished his bowl of cereal, draining it of milk as well, the feeling was still there. He sat and thought for a little longer. He still wanted to eat … but he knew now that cereal wouldn't destroy that feeling. Maybe he needed something … something different?

Again: But what?

He brushed his teeth in the bathroom and then left his house to wander the streets of the marketplace. Maybe the marketplace would provide for him a solution, or at very least erase this queer feeling of need and unplaced hunger.

It didn't, and after an hour of walking, Sasuke sat down on a bench in frustration, finding himself beginning to get desperate. (He was, after all, a fourteen-year-old with hormones and was naturally prone to worry and occasional mood swings, even if he did have it less than others. coughInocoughSakuracough) Was this normal? Had someone addicted him to drugs while he was asleep? Was that what this was? Did he need medication? What in the name of his hateful, girly-looking and violent brother Itachi was going on?

And then a girl passed him. She couldn't have been older than six, and was walking hand-in-hand with a woman who looked like her so obviously much, she was clearly the girl's mother. In the little girl's hands was a large orange-coloured fruit she was picking it, the skin half-peeled off and messy form where the girl had shoved her small nails into the juicy flesh.

An orange.

Sasuke watched the little girl, the mother, and the fruit go quietly.

And the needy hunger blew up by ten times, to the point where he almost attacked the little girl in order to wretch the orange from her hands and, you know, eat it himself.

He wanted an orange. Oh god, in the name of his hateful, girly-looking and violent brother Itachi – who he was going to kill someday, by the way – he wanted an orange.

And why wouldn't he? They would – they would be DELICIOUS!

A wave of drool washed into his mouth, filling it and overspilling, dribbling all over his chin. It was gross, unbecoming, somewhat ugly, and very un-Sasuke-like. More like, Naruto-like.

Once he realized what was going on, Sasuke quickly wiped his chin free of dribble with his hand and spat the remainder of the saliva in his mouth onto the ground beside the bench he was seated on. He glanced around quickly to make sure no one had noticed. No one had, which was a good thing. It wouldn't do well for his rep at all if people started seeing him act like _Naruto_. Drooling everywhere. He shuddered.

This was a serious matter. _The_ Uchiha Sasuke had drooled all over his chin like a baby. That was _not_ good. And all over the simple matter of an orange? Something would have to be done. Immediately.

But whenever he thought of the orange, his mouth watered. Eventually, he came to a conclusion: to stop him from drooling over an orange, he would have to eat an orange. Maybe more than just _one_ orange. But the solution was right there, standing in his face; and how hard could it get to find a piece of fruit he could buy? He had change in his pocket and he was standing in a _marketplace_, damn it.

A marketplace which, he realized twenty minutes later, had only and exactly one fruit stand that sold oranges.

"Hello, my name is Hatake Kakashi, and welcome to the Hatake Fruit Stand of Wonder," said the owner, a silver-haired man wearing a headband over one eye and a mask over the bottom half of his face, in an unenthusiastic voice. "Who the hell are you and how may I help you?"

Sasuke decided to ignore Kakashi's girly, flowery yellow apron and concentrate on prioritizing. "I want a small box of navel oranges, now," he demanded. Followed by: "You do sell oranges, right? Please tell me you sell oranges. You're the freaking last fruit stand on this cursed marketplace! And for some demented reason I'm hating right now even though I'm not aware of what it is, this is the only street in the entire village of Konoha that has a marketplace! So you're my last hope! Please have some oranges! I'M BEGGING YOU. ORANGES, PLEASE."

Kakashi looked at the raven-haired boy and sighed. Why was he the only one who got the weird customers?

Later, when Kakashi was interviewing Uzumaki Naruto fifteen minutes later on the possibility of hiring him, he would be reminded of Sasuke, although he never got around to telling Sasuke this. Though he'd probably just forgotten about it, it was a good thing he wouldn't; Sasuke probably would've gone for oranges even more desperately upon hearing he was _like Naruto_.

"Calm down, kid. I don't have oranges right now – "

Sasuke turned ghostly white, and Kakashi spoke a little faster before the Uchiha could blow up on him.

" – but I _am_ getting a shipment in about half an hour at least, an hour at most. How about you check in about an hour, and I'll reserve a box for you. For a fee." Kakashi smiled behind his mask.

"I'll bring my wallet and completely empty it out for you," Sasuke promised, relieved. "Just – just don't give it to anyone else, okay?"

"I'll put your name on it," came the reply.

"Great! So, what time is it? I'm going to start counting the sixty minutes, starting now."

"…"

…

A half-hour later ….

For the first time in his life, Neji the genius of the Hyuga clan was being forced to go grocery-shopping. Oh, the humiliation! Oh, the disaster! And he didn't even know what to buy. Cake, probably. And possibly a whole bunch of expensive tea. Maybe some candy for himself and Hinata … no, not for his cousin. They'd be his and his alone.

Huh. Maybe shopping wasn't so bad.

He went to a fruit stand to look for some candy. And then he froze.

"Naruto?"

Naruto, who had his back to him and was sorting fruit, turned his head. His face broke out into a wide smile. "Oh, hi Neji!" Then he went back to sorting fruit.

"Uh … what are you doing here?"

"Kakashi-boss, the owner of this little shop, hired me! That means I don't _have_ to mow your family's stupid-ass lawns anymore, YAY! And I won't."

"Congratulations!" Then the words sank in, and Neji fell into a deep and imagined pool and gloom and despair. What a _disappointment_. He'd been so looking forward to sneering at Naruto for being his family's servant. Even if Neji was part of the cadet branch and not the main branch.

"That's awful," Neji sighed. "Truly awful …."

"Isn't it? Anyways, can I help you in any way?"

"Do have any candy here?"

A pause. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. Uncle Hiashi, that moron, sent me grocery shopping. How does he expect me to do grocery shopping, I don't know. So, do you have any candy at this little fruit stand you _disappointingly_ work at?"

"… Why would you look for candy at a fruit stand?"

"I don't know!" shouted Neji, loosing his cool. "I've never gone grocery shopping before!"

And then Naruto turned.

In all his yellow flowery girly apron glory.

"Uh … Naruto," said Neji, staring on shock. His eyes told him what he was seeing, but his brain refused to accept the information. "What are you wearing?"

"Oh, this?" Naruto glanced down as if thinking nothing of it. "This is just an apron Kakashi-boss let me borrow for my first time on shop." He grinned at a suddenly severely traumatized Neji, and put his hands on his hip proudly. "What do you think?"

"I think …" Neji began, and then paused, as if giving a bit more thought to the matter. "I think …." He shook his head wildly as if to clear it, his long dark hair swishing. "I … I think …."

"What do you think?" demanded Naruto, who wasn't exactly known for his patience. "Just say it already!"

And Neji burst out laughing.

"W-WAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! AH-HAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAH! AAAH-HAAAHAAAAAHAAAAA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Naruto's face resembled this: -_-'

Neji doubled over, gasping for air while laughing at the same time – an extremely difficult thing to do while you're laughing that hard, so he choked a bit and lamented over the lack of air that went into his lungs.

"AH-HAHA! Naruto … I think – HA! HAHAHA! I think that your a … a … a … HAHAHAHAHA! Your apron is – is – OMYGOSH I can't stop laughing – AHAHAHA ! – I can't breathe – HAHAHAHAHA!"

Neji sucked in a huge gasp of air that actually hurt his lungs, and then continued laughing.

This was Naruto's reaction: _*

"Stop laughing, damn it!" he said angrily. "What's so funny about my apron, anyways?"

"H-Hold on … HAHA! Give me a second … let me recover … Pfft, HAHAHAHAHAHA! Let me breathe …."

Naruto irritably waited, and it took Neji a full five minutes to recover fully.

"I – I'm sorry, Naruto, but your apron … it … took me off guard."

"Kakashi-boss lied, then," Naruto grumbled, turning to sort more fruit self-consciously.

"About what?" asked Neji, watching him and snickering and smirking occasionally, but preventing himself, with great effort, from laughing outright again. He was curious as to why Naruto was wearing such a … thing … and he had a feeling his friend wouldn't tell him if he laughed at him again.

"Kakashi-boss said that customers were really into teenage guys wearing aprons like these. He lied! So far you're the only customer, and you came asking for candy, of all things!"

"I have never gone grocery shopping before!" Neji defended.

Naruto turned to give him a sardonic look. "I don't think 'candy' applies to 'groceries', Neji …"

And Neji couldn't stop himself. Seeing Naruto turned around with that weirdly girly and actually somewhat frilly yellow apron uncorked his bottle of self-control, and he laughed.

"WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Naruto turned red. "Go away! You're – you're scary away the customers!" he excused lamely.

And Neji stumbled away, laughing hard and thinking to himself, _I definitely need to find Tenten and Lee and maybe Sasuke and show them this …._

Naruto turned, grumbling angrily to himself. His good mood had been decidedly spoiled; who knew a simple apron could cause so much damage to his ego? He thought he'd been home-free from Neji's contempt when he'd landed this job, but apparently this seemingly innocent job had its downsides too.

And then he saw something; a little slip of white paper lying on the counter by the stocks of fruit. Naruto curiously picked it up and unfolded it.

It read:

_My new servant underling minion employer Uzumaki Naruto,_

_Remember to save at least one box of oranges for client Uchiha Sasuke later, when the next shipment comes. Put his name on it, 'cuz that's what I told him I'd do. Make sure that when he's paying, he empties out his wallet like he said he would. ^ _ ^_

_Three strikes and you're out._

_I'm grateful to you that you asked to use my _lovely_ apron for you first day on the job. It would've been extremely damaging to my rep to go into the Icha Icha Paradise store in it. But it suits you just fine. ^ _ ^_

_- Kakashi, your boss_

Naruto seethed, his fingers curling over the paper tightly and crushing it. He officially did not like his employer.

Then: "Wait, does Kakashi-boss know I don't know how to play baseball?"

Then: " … Whoa! Sasuke eats oranges?"

**Neji was unfortunately waaay out of character, but hey, this is an Alternate Reality. : )**

**Review? Come on, click on that blue button for Sasuke's oranges.**


	3. Shikamaru's Impossible Job

**I don't own Naruto.**

A Box of Oranges, Chapter 3:

Shikamaru's day started off normally: with his mother's nagging.

"Shikamaru, when you're done that bowl of cereal you have _yet_ to thank me for, remember to clean out your bowl at the sink instead of just leaving it there like you always do! Act your age for once and be self-useful!"

To which he replied, "You didn't make me this bowl of cereal, I did."

"You will address me as 'mother', and don't you dare talk back to me! After all, it was me and _not_ you who buys all the food you place into your mouth! And as for you, Shikaku …." She turned to Shikamaru's father with an evil glare, and the scarred man flinched. "You have yet to thank me as well!"

"Thank you very much," said Shikaku meekly. "I'm truly grateful, I really am …"

Shikamaru sighed and banged his head against the kitchen table. Why did days always have to start off like this …? Well whatever the reason, it couldn't be healthy … especially for his father's pride and self-esteem.

He was momentarily saved from further annoyance, however, when a knock sent Yoshino to the door. Shikamaru immediately turned towards his father.

"Hey, Dad …"

"Yes?"

"What do you ever see in such a high-strung woman?"

"… How many times have you asked me this?" Nara Shikaku sighed, sweatdropping.

Shikamaru thought for a moment, and then calculated, "I'm not sure … maybe about ten in the past month, maybe more." He didn't really care to keep track. It would be such a bother, after all.

"Then I don't feel obliged to answer you," said Shikaku. He dipped his spoon into his cereal bowl and a moment later shoved it into his mouth and chewed, as a way to prevent his son from questioning him further.

"Shikamaru!" Yoshino called out from the door. "Your friend Akimichi Choji is here, and he's here to see you."

With a sigh, he reluctantly pushed himself up from the table, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and made his way towards the door. Choji was standing underneath it, with his mother standing nearby. Choji smiled at Shikamaru, whose presence was relieving after spending a morning with Nara Yoshino, but the plump Akimichi's smile was strained and a little nervous under the pressuring presence of Shikamaru's mom.

"Hi, Shikamaru," he said. "Did you hear? Ino's sick with the flu and she has to stay home today."

"That's too bad for her," sighed Shikamaru. "It's such a nice day out … a good kind of day to lazy yourself through, and she's going to miss it. Oh well." He shrugged.

"I was thinking we could go visit her," said Choji. "Sakura'll probably be there too. Even though they dislike each other, they _are_ best friends."

"Yamanako Ino _and_ Haruno Sakura," the other boy groaned. "They're both way too violent and overdramatic, especially around people like that Uchiha or Uzumaki or even each other. I don't feel like getting within a hundred meter radius of them today. It would total spoil the lazy-day mood …"

"Shikamaru," said Yoshino sharply, making both boys jump and her son flinch. "Ino is your friend, isn't she? You shouldn't be so anti-social! How do you expect to make any new friends, hmm?"

Shikamaru thought to himself, _Sasuke is extremely anti-social and still he has all those girls swooning over him like he's a movie star or something else annoying_, but he didn't say this aloud, preferring not to get nagged again.

So he said, "Okay," in a mild voice and walked out the door.

"Oh, and Shikamaru!" his mother called as he walked away. "Go grocery shopping while you're at it and get me a bunch of oranges, would you? Don't you dare forget!"

Choji looked surprised at this, but immediately gave his best friend a deeply empathetic stare.

Shikamaru froze and whirled around. "But mom!" And maybe if he had gotten the chance to point out that oranges were, for some stupid reason to do with geography and alliances, extremely rare in the village, and were nearly impossible to find and get, Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't have ended up attacking each other much later that day, and Shikamaru would've saved himself a lot of trouble.

But Nara Yoshino gave him one of her most menacing glares and said in a low voice, "Do it, and I won't take into consideration that you left the house without bothering to clean your own cereal bowl."

That shut him up, although his vein throbbed in his forehead irritably.

…

"Hello, Yamanako-san."

"Sakura-chan! Are you here to see Ino?"

"Yes. Is she home? We planned on going to the marketplace later to do some shopping before school starts."

The older woman stared. "But didn't your high school end a week ago? It's freshly summer vacation."

"We wanted to pre-prepare," explained Sakura. "Ino usually procrastinates at everything so we thought we might get started on our clothes shopping now rather than later so we'll – well, her mostly – both have some more time to work on school stuff when it begins." She sighed a bit. It was always Ino that procrastinated, though she got good marks – Sakura, on the other hand, never did, and also got good marks.

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan, but Ino woke up sick this morning with the flu," said Ino's mother apologetically.

Sakura's bright green eyes widened. "What? B-but we were going to go shopping together and get low-fat milkshakes – we're on diets, see? – and everything!"

"Yes, but Ino is just feeling too sick to go out today." There was a pause, and then the Yamanako added, "You can come upstairs and visit her, if you want."

"Um, okay." Sakura hesitated. "I mean, I want to see Ino and everything, but … won't I get sick?"

Ino's mother shook her head. "This isn't the easily contagious type. You'll probably be fine. Would you like me to take you up to her room?"

Sakura didn't see how that was necessary, but she nodded and was soon following the older woman into the house, up the stairs, and towards Ino's room.

"Call me if you need anything," said the Yamanako with a smile, and headed downstairs.

Sakura knocked on the door to Ino's room, which was a bright pink in stark contrast to the hallway's white walls and plain but stylish brown doors. Sakura made a face. At her house in her room, she knew she would never colour it pink. It would illuminate her peculiar hair colour too much.

"Come in!" came her friend's muffled reply. Sakura turned the door handle and pushed it open, stepping into the room.

Ino was still tucked into bed, but she was sitting up and reading a book. She looked up when Sakura came in and her brow furrowed into a scowl. She spoke in a hoarse voice that indicated that she had a bad sore throat.

"What are you doing here, Billboard Brow?"

Sakura gave her a superior look. "We were supposed to go shopping today, or do you not remember, you pig?"

Ino looked suddenly crestfallen. "Oh yes, that … I'm sorry Sakura, but as you can see, I'm sick, and I can't go anywhere, no matter how much I want to. I guess we'll have to cancel or reschedule."

"Reschedule," said Sakura. She sighed and shook her head, leaning against the wall and folding her arms. "Honestly Ino, do you expect me to go out clothes shopping and drinking low-fat milkshakes and everything else all _by myself_? No teenager our age in life does that, at least not the ones here in the village."

"Tenten does."

"Well, both of Tenten's best friends – Neji and Lee – are guys, and you can't exactly go clothes shopping with males, so she has an excuse. I mean, do you know how awkward that would be?"

"Yeah, actually," said Ino thoughtfully. "I tried discussing fashion with Shikamaru and Choji once, and they ran away on me."

Sakura stared.

"What?"

"Why," said the pink-haired girl slowly, "would you ever, ever talk to a guy about female fashion?"

"How do you know it was female?" defended Ino self-consciously.

"… Okay, we'll pretend I didn't hear that, because that's just a _bit_ stranger."

"Don't, it was female," Ino sighed.

Just then, Shikamaru and Choji walked into the room. The action was so abrupt, that both Sakura and Ino jumped.

"Speak of the devil and the devil will come," noted Ino.

"Excuse me?" said Shikamaru.

The two girls smirked.

"Hey Ino," said Choji. "We heard you were sick, so we decided to drop by."

"Yes, yes, and I'm definitely glad to see you Ino, but if you don't mind terribly, I have some oranges to pick up …."

Oranges? That could only mean one thing. "Your mother?" said Sakura, looking at Shikamaru sympathetically.

"Yeah. As usual."

"Well, I guess I'll come with you," Sakura sighed, straightening and stretching. "Since I don't have anything better to do …."

"Are you calling visiting me boring?" demanded Ino. "And since was _Shikamaru_ my replacement?"

"You are _always_ boring, pig."

"Shut up, Forehead!"

Shikamaru exhaled loudly through his nose. "Hey, if we're done here, can we go now? After all, my mother already has enough reasons, apparently, to kick my ass, and I don't want to give her another."

Ino's eyes narrowed at him. "That's certainly a nice thing to say to your sick friend, Shikamaru, and it's wonderful that you dislike me so much you'd rather shop for an impossible-to-find fruit rather than visit her in her sickbed." She tossed her hair haughtily. Evidently, illness had not robbed Ino of her attitude.

The Nara's eyes widened. "What? No, I didn't mean – "

And Ino threw a pillow at his face. It was fluffy and pink – a colour to match her door and walls – and heart-shaped, and Shikamaru caught it in his face.

After a moment, it fell to the ground and Shikamaru said, "Okaaay … let's pretend that you never did that, Ino, and I'm leaving to get those stupid oranges." He quickly disappeared into the hall, Sakura right behind him.

"W-Wait! Wait for me, you guys! Don't leave me alone in a girl's room with a girl!" begged Choji, darting after the others.

"NOOOOOOO!" Ino wailed. "Don't leave me here! I'll be all aloooooone!"

And then something occurred to her and she almost threw up right onto her book and her blankets. "What Choji said was disturbingly implicative …."

**Don't you find it a bit ironic that oranges, the most hard-to-find fruit in this village, was bought by a little girl before _Uchiha Sasuke_, who wanted it more anyways?**

**Review? : ) Do it for Ino's sore throat.**


	4. Giving Advice Backfires

**I don't own Naruto, but I think you people figured that out already.**

**Interesting and yet pointless orange fact: Oranges were considered the original "forbidden fruit". Maybe that's why Jack Vessalius from Pandora Hearts is shown with them in omakes most of the time ….**

A Box of Oranges, Chapter 4:

"Ah, Sakura!" said Ino's mother in surprise. "Going so soon? Shikamaru-kun and Choji-kun too, I see."

"Yes, we have some stuff to do," Sakura admitted.

The Yamanako raised an eyebrow. "Does it have anything to do with shopping?"

"I suppose. Shikamaru's trying to find to oranges, I think."

"Oh! Are they available now? Then Sakura-chan, can you do me a favour?"

Sakura shrugged. "Sure. What is it?"

"Take this money and buy me a bag of oranges. There doesn't have to be a lot; just one or two is fine. I would do it myself, but I'm busy at the flower shop."

"That's fine, I'll get the oranges for you," said Sakura with a bright smile, tucking the money into her pocket while secretly thinking to herself, _Wonderful, now I, too, am stuck with the same near-impossible job Shikamaru has_.

"Thank you so much, Sakura!" beamed the older woman. "And when you're done, buy something for yourself, kay? You can keep any change you might have, too!"

Sakura brightened up considerably. "Well then thank you so very much, Mrs Yamanako-san!"

Ino's mom nodded and smiled, and then she turned around and murmured in a quiet, amused voice that couldn't be heard by the others, "Predictable …."

…

They soon arrived at the market, and Shikamaru spoke up. "We should probably split up and meet back here in, say, half an hour; that way we'll be able to most efficiently find a place where oranges are sold."

However, his wisdom was lost upon the other two.

"Those silks are so beautiful," sighed Sakura, looking off to one side.

"Food …" mumbled Choji, looking off to the other.

Shikamaru's expression: -_-'

"Let's focus here, people," he said. "Oranges won't be easy to find, after all. We have to think of a strategy."

"Huh? What? Oh, did you say something about splitting up before, Shikamaru?" Sakura said innocently, which was irritating in its own right – but even more so at the fact that Sakura's obliviousness seemed genuine.

"I'm all for that," agreed Choji, and before Shikamaru could say another word, they were separated. Just not looking for the one thing that they were supposed to be looking for.

Shikamaru face-palmed. "Wonderful," he mumbled. "Why did it have to be oranges ….?"

"Excuse me … did you say oranges?"

Shikamaru looked up and off to the side he found, of all people, Uchiha Sasuke standing nearby and looking at him with a curious expression on his face. "… Yeah."

"Huh," said Sasuke, his expression changing from curious to peculiar. "That's … oranges are hard to find, huh?"

"Yeah." The Nara managed to stop himself from adding, _Took you that long to figure it out_ …?

"At the end of the street this way, there's a shop called Hatake fruits or something like that, and it's owned by a guy called Kakashi. They don't have oranges now, but apparently they're getting a shipment in about …" Sasuke checked a small watch strapped to his let wrist. "… twenty-seven minutes, say?"

"Thanks." Shikamaru gave the Uchiha a surprised look. "How'd you find this out?"

Sasuke shrugged and looked away in a very suspicious manner, and the other boy immediately suspected that he was hiding something. He didn't probe, however, and simply thanked him once more and started to head to the end of the street.

Sasuke, on the other hand, wished Shikamaru hadn't asked. Even though he hadn't questioned him further, it was still really awkward – for him, at least. This sudden orange obsession of his was getting out of control. Of course, only more reason to get some of that citric fruit and satisfy this embarrassing craving of his so … you know … it wouldn't embarrass him further.

"… Oh! And Sasuke!"

Sasuke flinched, but turned to face the other boy. "What?"

"Actually … if there aren't going to be any more in twenty-seven minutes, can you can me a bag?"

"Well, I …."

"Thank you!" Shikamaru interrupted in a purposely very Naruto-like gesture. He raised his hand to bid Sasuke farewell, and then quickly walked away. Sasuke looked after him helplessly.

…

Shikamaru walked into his house quietly on the ends of his toes, hoping his mother wouldn't be able to hear him come in.

His foot stepped on a loose floorboard, and it creaked, ever-so-slightly ….

Shikamaru froze, waiting. And yet … silence?

Maybe he wouldn't get harassed by his mother after all. Maybe Yoshino had gone out to do some shopping … unlikely though, since if she'd wanted more groceries she would've gotten Shikamaru to do them along with the oranges. Maybe she was chatting on the phone upstairs with one of her friends or … or something, and she couldn't spare time to come downstairs and demand where the oranges were or nag him some more. Maybe ….

STOMP, STOMP, STOMP. The next thing Shikamaru knew, his mother was storming down the hall towards them, demanding, "Shikamaru! Where are my oranges?"

"IsawSasuke-kunandhe'sgoingtogetthemforme," Shikamaru said quickly.

Yoshino stopped and looked blank. "What? Speak slower!"

Her estranged son took a deep breath. "I said, Uchiha Sasuke-kun is also getting oranges, and he's getting a bag for me later."

"Okay." The Nara woman turned around and walked away. "And clean up your room!"

Sweatdropping, Shikamaru decided that the next time he asked his father why he'd married such a woman, if Nara Yoshino had been a tsundere.

**I remember when I read Naruto FanFiction back before I'd started reading Part II.**

**I kept on wondering why Sakura was so often portrayed as a tough tomboy who yelled a lot, as in Part I, Sakura was most of the time girlish, if determined, and she didn't yell _that_ much.**

**If you're wondering why I read Naruto FanFiction without finishing Naruto first, well … it had already been spoiled a lot for me before, so why not?**

**Review please? Shikamaru's mother would appreciate it!**


	5. Sasuke Gets his Oranges

**I don't own Naruto.**

**As an apology for not updating in a while, I'll start this off with a little story on Kakashi after he ditched Naruto to look after the stand.**

A Box of Oranges, Chapter 5:

The thing is, when he'd first started reading Icha Icha, his father had noticed and had started to drill into him one rule:

Do not read Icha Icha while manning the shop front. It's bad for business.

So thus, after Hatake Sakumo's death, Kakashi had picked up a habit of closing down the shop for extended of periods of time while he went over to the local bookshop to read.

(He never earned enough money to buy the books himself, so you could say he was caught in a vicious circle.)

Thus, after Sakumo's death, business hadn't really gone down well for Kakashi.

But whatever. In his eyes, Icha Icha was worth it.

That is, until Inuzuka Tsume – an avid dog owner and single mother of two kids – came to the book shop to look for a suitable cookbook.

Tsume was a hard-working middle-aged woman who only wanted the best for her two children, Hana and Kiba. They weren't the wealthiest family in the village, but thanks to Tsume's various job and Hana's part-time job, they managed to get by without _too_ much suffering, and just a bunch of hard work. Thus, their hard-earned meals ended up tasting that much sweeter.

Kakashi, on the other hand, didn't work that much and pretty much lived off the interest his fairly wealthy family had deposited into the bank. You could say he didn't take his job very seriously because of this; in fact, Kakashi only became a fruit vendor in respect of his high-esteemed father, who had, for some crazy reason, loved the job.

If you asked him, Kakashi would merely state he was living in the present. But in Inuzuka Tsume's eyes, Kakashi's lazy demeanour made him almost a criminal.

And it was for this reason that Tsume had a bad habit of bothering Kakashi, and trying to put him in embarrassing fixes so that one day he might one day know the true meaning of suffering.

Admittedly this was rather petty of Tsume on her part, so as a result, Kakashi learned ot thing of Tsume as rather nosy, annoying, and bothersome.

He should've known better than to read Jiraiya's Icha Icha Paradise series, of all things, in public.

When Tsume turned and saw him out of the corner of her eye, well … this was just a chance she couldn't pass up.

A huge and fierce grin lighting up her features, she walked up to an unsuspecting Kakashi, clapped him hard on the back, and said in a voice that could hardly be described as quiet, "HATAKE KAKASHI, you old pervert! So you DO read Icha Icha Paradise porn!"

Everyone in the bookshop turned to stare at them as Kakashi prayed fervently in his head for the ground to split open beneath him and swallow him, and hopefully take Tsume down to hell with him.

"I – I was just taking a look," Kakashi muttered, while thinking to himself, _How dare Inuzuka insult Icha Icha!_

"Taking a LOOK?" said Tsume. "Generally, that's described as BAD when it comes to Icha Icha. But whatever, it's not my business."

And with a smug look on her face, she turned around and walked away.

Well, it wasn't as if she'd _framed_ him reading Icha Icha, since he really did read it ….

…

Naruto angrily ripped off the frilly apron and threw it to the side. How dare Kakashi humiliate him but putting him in this! Neji was sure to tell all of the village now. He'd be the laughing stop … not that he wasn't already ….

He sighed and grumbled to himself angrily. Neji would pay for laughing like such a stupid idiot and asking him for candy, oh yes he would ….

…

Exactly 60 minutes after he first found himself at the Hatake fruit stand, Sasuke found himself there again.

To his immense irritation and impending frustration, there was no one there.

"WHAT IS THIS?" he shrieked in rage. "I WAS PROMISED FRUIT, AND THERE'S NO ONE HERE? WHAT KIND OF CHEAP STAGE-TRICK IS THIS?"

Naruto walked out from behind the stand – he'd just finished dealing with a new shipment of apples, and was needless to say surprised to find his friend/rival standing in front of the fruit stand screaming his head off.

Tch. How un-Uchiha like.

"Oh hi Sasuk – "

Sasuke didn't hear him.

"ORANGES! I WANT MY ORANGES! DO YOU HEAR ME, SILVER-HAIRED FRUIT VENDOR? YOU SAID I'D GET ORANGES, DAMN IT! I'VE COME AFTER AN HOUR FOR MY FRUIT, JUST LIKE YOU SAID! HOW DARE YOU IGNORE AND UPSTAGE ME! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM? I'M AN UCHIHA, YOU HEAR? UCHIHA SASUKE SHALL NOT BE DENIED!"

"So it is true!" exclaimed Naruto suddenly, cutting the black-haired boy off. "You _do_ eat oranges, Sasuke!"

Dead silence.

Sasuke blinked at Naruto as he lowered the arms he'd been waving frantically in the air and came back to his normal, stoic self.

"Dobe? Is that you?"

"What does it look like, teme?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I work here. You?"

"I've come for my oranges."

Naruto suddenly remembered the contents of Kakashi's notes. "Oh, right! Well anyways, you're in luck, because we just got a new shipment say, ten minutes ago!"

He vanished behind the single shelf of fruit behind him (the vendor wasn't exactly huge, but it wasn't particularly tiny either) and returned with a box of navel oranges.

Sasuke's mouth watered like Orochimaru did over Itachi's body. (Hn, creepy.) He reached greedily for the box.

Naruto jerked it out of his reach. "Nuh-uh, teme! Uchiha or not, you still have to follow the rules! Hand over your money, and then you'll get the oranges," he said in a tone that could've been used for the phrase, 'Hand over your money, and I'll let you live'.

Sasuke growled, but remembered his promise to empty his wallet. So he did, all over the counter.

Naruto's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to tell Sasuke he hadn't expected _that_ much money – and then thought better of it.

"Here you go!" Naruto handed the box to Sasuke.

Sasuke grabbed it fiercely away from the blond boy and abruptly ran away to eat his oranges in peace.

"You're welcome!" Naruto called out happy as his friend ran out of sight. Then he gave a contented sigh and leaned down to put all the money on the counter into the cashier-cash machine thing he couldn't quite remember the name of ….

_Hee-hee, Kakashi-boss is going to be so pleased with all the money I've made!_ he thought delightedly to himself. _He might even promote me …._

_And then I'll kill him for making me wear that ugly apron, yeah!_

**A somewhat shorter chapter than usual ….**

**You might notice that the title of this chapter is, "Sasuke Gets his Oranges"**

**The title is an unfinished chapter title, which will be completed with the next chapter.**

**If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then that's fine, since I'll just explain it again with the beginning of the next chapter.**

**Review?**


	6. And Loses Them Again

**I do not own Naruto.**

**Okay, so the chapter title thing.**

**Actually, with the posting of this chapter, you've probably figure it out already.**

**Chapter 5's title is, "Sasuke Gets his Oranges".**

**Chapter 6's title is, "and Loses Them Again".**

**If you just look at Chapter 6's title without looking at Chapter 5's title, it probably won't make that much sense.**

A Box of Oranges, Chapter 6

They were so close. The oranges were so close, so round, so fresh, so full, so … divine. Several times Sasuke pinched himself – not only to make sure that the oranges were really there, in the box in his hand, but also for the stupidity of the situation his own desire had left him in – and several times he would stroke them. He could practically smell them and oh! What a wonderful smell it was. Heavenly.

"Hi Sasuke-kun!"

"Oh, hi Sakura-chan."

"See you later!"

"Hn."

Being so, so close to his goal, he was practically dying now; every instinct screamed at him to sit down right there, in the middle of the street, and just start stuffing his face full of oranges in an even more crude manner than that little girl he'd seen before had.

He didn't, however.

Why?

Because he was Uchiha Sasuke, and he had a reputation to keep. Uchiha Sasuke did not crudely stuff his face. He couldn't afford to eat these wonders in public, where anyone might see him.

It was a different matter, of course, if he was at home. And if he went into his room, locked it, closed the curtains of the windows, and made sure to turn all the cameras his fangirls had placed in his room to duds, he'd even be able to block out Itachi-nii-san.

Distracted, he didn't see Choji until he crashed right into him.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Sorry," Sasuke muttered, already pushing his encounter with the Akimichi out of his mind. After all, in the light of the current situation, – oranges, oh wonder! – the 'pleasantly plump' boy was unimportant.

He was about to go around him and continue running home, and was surprised when Choji suddenly stepped in front of him.

"Oh, it you, Sasuke-san! Are those oranges for Shikamaru? He said you were going to get him some."

Without really paying attention to what he was saying, Sasuke said distractedly, "Yes they are. I have to go …."

"Oh, that's okay, Sasuke-san! You probably don't know where Shikamaru's house is anyways. I visit him all the time, so I can deliver them for you!" And Choji obliviously plucked the box from Sasuke's hands and walked away. "See you!"

Sasuke stared down at him hands in shock. _What did I just tell Choji to make him take away my oranges?_ he wondered.

Then he remembered.

Oh yeah, Shikamaru asked me to get him oranges … so Choji knows where Shikamaru lives, and is taking the box for him … my box … why my box … oh he thought it was Shikamaru's … oh no, "MY ORANGES!"

As you can see the quotation marks, Sasuke screamed the last two words aloud.

"WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?"

People started giving him weird looks, but he didn't notice in his despair.

Then he started thinking properly again, and promptly ran ahead of Choji, before stopping in front of him.

"Uh, Sasuke-san?" Choji looked at the Uchiha in confusion.

"Choji-kun." Sasuke cleared his throat. "Those … those are _my_ oranges."

The Akimichi's eyes widened. "No way, these are Shikamaru's! He said you'd get him a box of oranges! Or were you lying?"

"Well, you see, about that …"

Sasuke was about to go on and say that once he delivered his oranges to his house, he was going to come back to Kakashi's fruit vendor thingy and get another for Shikamaru, with plans to carefully omit the parts about eating all his oranges before he did anything about Shikamaru's, and that there probably weren't going to be any left by the time he returned to Kakashi's vendor.

However, Choji already took Sasuke's, 'Well, you see, about that …' the wrong way, and immediately assumed that Sasuke had LIED to Shikamaru.

The following words made themselves known in Choji's head.

Uchiha

Sasuke

Lied

To

Shikamaru

Choji's

Best

Friend.

And of course, this was UNACCEPTABLE!

"BE GONE, BEAST!" shrieked Choji suddenly, starting Sasuke. Shikamaru's best friend then proceeded to ram into Sasuke, sending him to the ground, and ran in the general direction of Shikamaru's house.

Oh, wonderful. Now for the chasing.

"Get back here!" yelled Sasuke, leaping back onto his feet and chasing after him. "Those are _my_ precious oranges! I emptied out my wallet for them, damn it!"

He winced at a few fangirls' gasp. "Sasuke-kun likes oranges …."

This really wasn't Sasuke's day.

…

"Ehh? Naruto?"

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, turning. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I came to pick up some oranges for Ino's mother. Do you work here now?"

"Yeah! Kakashi-boss is out right now so I'm taking over right now."

"So … do you have any oranges?" That's why she came here, after all.

"'Course!" Naruto disappeared behind the shelf, and came back with a box of navel oranges.

"This is the last box," Naruto explained. "I was planning on saving it in case Sasuke-teme came back, since he paid so much for that last box, but I'll give it to you on one condition."

Sakura's emerald eyes widened. "What is it?" Then they narrowed. "It better not be a date with you."

Naruto shook his head. "Nah! Just take that frilly yellow apron with you, and you get the box."

The blond boy pointed, and Sakura followed his finger to look at a bundle of yellow lying on the counter.

Not being particularly girly, or a fan of excessive lace, Sakura didn't see why she would need an apron like that. However, oranges were so hard to find, and there was one sitting right there, waiting to be taken ….

Whatever. She'd just give the apron to Ino.

"Deal."

She paid for the box, grabbed the yellow thing that apparently qualified as an apron, and skipped off happily.

…

The Akimichi was apparently faster and better at evasive techniques than Sasuke was, because he soon lost him.

Not that he'd admit it. It would be unheard of! Impossible! Humiliating! And he'd never be able to show his face to Itachi-nii-san again!

So, with a resigned sigh, he turned and headed back to Kakashi's fruit stand to see if there were any left. And oh Kami, he hoped there were.

**Review?**


End file.
